Document handling and counting apparatus finds widespread use in industrial, commercial and institutional areas. For example, it is extremely desirable to provide such apparatus for accurately counting paper currency for both counting and batching purposes, for example. Obviously, high speed equipment is extremely desirable, but not at the expense of a reduction in counting accuracy. The handling of sheets, such as for example paper currency, at high speed, can be accommodated by present-day apparatus in a rather straightforward manner when the paper currency is brand new or has been in circulation for only a short period of time. On the other hand, paper currency which has been in circulation for quite a while and/or has been roughly treated, mistreated or even mutilated, creates problems during the feeding and stripping operations. For example, the feeding apparatus may cause a sheet with a curled or bent-forward edge to experience further bending or curling, causing the sheet to misfeed or possibly create a jam condition in the handling apparatus. It is also possible that sheets being delivered from the fanning and stripping apparatus to the sheet separation apparatus can be misfed or misdirected due to folds or curling causing a jam condition and/or misfed of sheets, as well as errors in the accumulated count, which may be attributed to the free space region through which the sheets pass in moving from the stripping and feeding apparatus to the acceleration apparatus.